Brad in all his glory.
We had the best weather of the summer. Sunny with highs near 80 and lows in the upper sixties. We left Catawba late Friday afternoon with the idea of mooring at PIB for the evening. The forecast called for 5 to 15 knot winds, strengthening during the evening. Once on the lake, we discovered the wind to be 15 to 20 knots out of the west with higher gusts. Using South Bass Island as a shield, we flew up the eastern side making great time. Unfortunately, the Inter-Lake Yacht Association races were this weekend and not a mooring could be found. (Where's Michelle when you need her!) Fighting the four foot waves between South and Middle Bass, we made our way to the Middle Bass Island State Park Marina. Just a year old, this marina was almost full also... we were lucky to get a slip.
With a high pressure area firmly in place Saturday morning, we motored over to the north side of Kelley's Island for some suds, sun, and swimming. After seeing Brad floating in the intertube, a collection of nearby boaters, mostly those with young children, asked us to move to the other side of the Island. Noting a fresh breeze in the air, we went for a quick sail around Kelley's Island with Brad at the helm for the entire trip. The evening was spent having a great meal of Connie's barbequed chicken and pasta salad while the wine flowed until nearly midnight.
Sunday brought a return of the wind with 5 to 10 knots forecasted. We raised the anchor and sailed from the Bay with a nice breeze that quickly increased from 7 knots to 12 knots around the north side of Kelley's. Once out into the open water, the wind picked up to 15 knots and the whitecaps on the water indicated the chop that would throw a spray of water into the air each time we plowed into them. We tacked back and forth across the southwest wind making our way back to Catawba. Nice weather and great friends make for an enjoyable weekend. I think we have a couple of more sailing devotees.
Sunday brought a return of the wind with 5 to 10 knots forecasted. We raised the anchor and sailed from the Bay with a nice breeze that quickly increased from 7 knots to 12 knots around the north side of Kelley's. Once out into the open water, the wind picked up to 15 knots and the whitecaps on the water indicated the chop that would throw a spray of water into the air each time we plowed into them. We tacked back and forth across the southwest wind making our way back to Catawba. Nice weather and great friends make for an enjoyable weekend. I think we have a couple of more sailing devotees.